Contextual advertising company Media.net and data connectivity business LiveRamp are joining forces to bring audience and context-based targeting together. The new partnership, announced today, promises to give advertisers addressable reach sans third-party cookies.
Privacy-focused regulations and browser changes have hurt cookie-based addressability. The lack of third-party cookies has already undercut scale and personalization for marketers — nearly half the industry sees it as the key challenge for 2021 — while more deprecation is coming.
The cookie’s end is less of an issue for Media.net, one of the world’s largest contextual ad tech companies. Media.net provides a contextual data-driven ad exchange that helps buyers reach audiences without any cookies and without running afoul of privacy compliance.
In partnering with LiveRamp, Media.net’s exchange is now integrated with LiveRamp’s Authenticated Identity Infrastructure. This will add people-based audience targeting to Media.net’s supply.
The partnership creates “a new advertising paradigm,” according to the joint press release, making it possible for advertisers to behaviorally target someone while they’re engaging relevant content. The idea being that identity plus context will enhance campaign performance.
“Now, addressable reach and contextual no longer have to be leveraged in silos – advertisers can take advantage of them together,” said Media.net’s Namit Merchant, COO. “Partnering with LiveRamp, a leader in the data connectivity space, to enhance our ad exchange and contextual data engine of over 7 million segments was a no-brainer. We are pleased to announce this partnership which ultimately benefits buyers intending to reach their most valuable consumers at scale.”
“As regulation, browser restrictions and consumer preferences curtail the effectiveness of cookies, we have built an infrastructure that allows ecosystem-wide use of non-cookie, people-based identifiers,” said Travis Clinger, SVP and head of addressability and ecosystem at LiveRamp. “Our integration with Media.net’s ad exchange and contextual data engine delivers an optimized targeting solution that advertisers have demanded for a long time, and we are excited to bring this to market with Media.net.”
Publishers also benefit from the pairing. Those using LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution can use Media.net’s platform to marry addressable and contextual targeting, supporting revenue and monetization opportunities.
LiveRamp and Media.net shared a statement about the partnership’s value from Paul Bannister, CSO at CafeMedia, saying, “This is a great partnership that combines the power of contextual and addressable audience targeting, two of the most critical elements of publishers’ strategies for the post-cookie digital advertising ecosystem. We’re excited to augment our existing contextual and addressable targeting systems by working with LiveRamp and Media.net to maximize revenue.”
